Re: What was the 1st clue?

[Anonymous]

>>I never got diagnosed and suffered my entire youth and University years truly believing that I had enherited all the bad qualities of my sociopathic/alchoholic/abusive father. My mother assumed that because I, like him, appeared careless, and not willing to help/lazy, and verbally impulsive and cutting her off when speaking that this was attributed to me inheriting his evil genes.<<

Sherri, your father and mine sound a lot alike – and what I’ve learned is that many of the things that made my Dad an unbearable, hateful person actually /were/ untreated ADHD. a lot of us who’ve not been treated turn to alcohol and drugs in order to get by, and it ends up compounding out symptoms rather than helping.

we also know that ADHD is “highly heritable” meaning that if a parent has it, chances are so will the children – likewise, if a child is diagnosed, it is usually worthwhile to look to parents as a source.

anyway, certainly I would choose different language than saying you inherited your father’s “evil” genes, but there’s a real possibility that you did inherit his ADHD genes (just like my brother and I did from our father).

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